Why study algorithms?
Their impact is broad and far-reaching.
Interne. Web search, packet routing, distributed file sharing, ...
Biology. Human genome project, protein folding, ...
Computers. Circuit layout, file system, compilers, ...
Computer graphics. Movies, video games, virtual reality, ...
Security. Cell phones, e-commerce, voting machines, ...
Multimedia. MP3, JPG, DivX, HDTV, face recognition,
Social networks. Recommendations, news feeds, advertisements, ...
Physics. N-body simulation, particle collision simulation, ...
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.
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Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, .....
Old roots, new opportunities.
・Study of algorithms dates at least to Euclid.
・Formalized by Church and Turing in 1930s.
・Some important algorithms were discovered
by undergraduates in a course like this!
To solve problems that could not otherwise be addressed.
Ex. Network connectivity. [stay tuned]
For intellectual stimulation.
“ For me, great algorithms are the poetry of computation. Just like
verse, they can be terse, allusive, dense, and even mysterious.
But once unlocked, they cast a brilliant new light on some
aspect of computing. ” — Francis Sullivan
“ Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs. ” — Niklaus Wirth
Quick exercise. Write a Java program
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
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